1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to a feeding/storing apparatus for rods or rod-shaped articles, such as filter-cigarettes, filterless cigarettes, or filter-plugs. The apparatus is provided in a process for feeding built-up rods in order by conveyors from a pre-processing machine, such as a cigarette fabricating machine, to a post-processing machine, such as a packaging machine. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a feeding/storing apparatus including a stationary conveyor communicating with a feeding-out port which is provided under a horizontally movable conveyor, which communicates with a feeding-in port in parallel relation thereto. A turning passage is movable with the movable conveyor, which is formed over the distance from the leading edge of an upper compartment, which is defined on the movable conveyor, to the end of a lower compartment, which is defined on the stationary conveyor. The capacities of the upper compartment and the lower compartment are increased and decreased by horizontal movement of the movable conveyor according to the difference between a feeding-in amount from the feeding-in port to the movable conveyor and feeding-out amount from the stationary conveyor to the feeding-out port.
2. Description of Background
A conventional feeding/storing apparatus for rods of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 59-46558. In this apparatus, a movable conveyor and a stationary conveyor are linearly formed. Cigarettes which are built-up by the movable conveyor are horizontally press-fed from the leading edge of an upper compartment to a guide plate, while abutting each other in the feeding direction. The cigarettes are then turned downwardly along a turning passage and fed to the end of a lower compartment. With this construction, when the cigarette fabricating machine, as a pre-processing machine, is stopped because of a failure or the like, the movable conveyor is stopped. When the built-up amount of the cigarettes at the feeding-out port is more than a specified height, the stationary conveyor is stopped. Furthermore, when the stationary conveyor is stopped and only the movable conveyor is operated, the movable conveyor is linearly moved in the direction of increasing the capacities of the upper compartment defined on the movable conveyor and the lower compartment defined on the stationary conveyor, thereby increasing the stored amount. When the stored amount thus reaches the maximum, the cigarette fabricating machine is stopped. Also, when the movable conveyor is stopped and only the stationary conveyor is operated, the movable conveyor is linearly moved in the direction of reducing the capacities of the upper compartment and the lower compartment, thereby reducing the stored amount. When the stored amount thus reaches the minimum, a packaging machine, as a post-processing machine, is stopped.
Also, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. SHO 59-162867, a storage conveyor is branched from the midway of a feeding conveyor for directly supplying cigarettes from a cigarette fabricating machine, as a pre-processing machine, to a packaging machine, as a post-processing machine. With this construction, when the supplied amount from the cigarette fabricating machine to the packaging machine is excessive, the cigarettes are fed to the storage conveyor from the feeding conveyor and thus stored. In absence of cigarettes, those stored on the storage conveyor are supplied to the feeding conveyor.
However, the conventional feeding/storing apparatus for rods have the following disadvantages. In the first described apparatus, the stored amount is increased and decreased by linear movement of the movable conveyor over the stationary conveyor. Accordingly, to further increase the stored amount, the lengths of the movable and stationary conveyors must be further enlarged in the longitudinal direction. In particular, in the case when the feeding/storing apparatus are laterally aligned between the cigarette fabricating machine, as the pre-processing machine, and the packaging machine, as the post-processing machine, both machines must be separated from each other by the extent required for increasing the stored amount. This presents the problem of enlarging the size of the entire apparatus.
Furthermore, in the case when the rods are filter cigarettes, the first apparatus is inconvenient. The outside of the filter is slightly larger than that of the cigarette. Accordingly, when the cigarettes are stacked in multi-levels on the linear conveyor, the filter side portions thereof abut each other and are thus firmly built-up; however, the opposite leading edge side portions thereof are built-up so that horizontal gaps are formed between the cigarettes. Consequently, the leading edges of the cigarettes are liable to slip due to vibrations caused during the feeding operation, thereby degrading the quality of the cigarettes, such as by damage to the cigarettes or loss of tobacco.
Also, the second apparatus is disadvantageous, since the cigarettes which are first fed on the storage conveyor are fed out last therefrom. Accordingly, the first stored cigarettes are stored for a long time in the storage conveyor, thereby significantly degrading the quality of the cigarettes.
To solve the above problems, the following technique has been proposed. The movable conveyor and the stationary conveyor are respectively formed in circular-arc shapes. The circular-arc shaped movable conveyor is horizontally turned along the circular-arc orbital path of the stationary conveyor according to the difference between the feeding-in amount from the feeding-in port to the movable conveyor and the feeding-out amount from the stationary conveyor to the feeding-out port. This makes it possible to increase and decrease the capacities of the upper compartment defined on the movable conveyor and the lower compartment defined on the stationary conveyor. Thus, the imbalance between the demand to the post-processing machine and the supply from the pre-processing machine can be adjusted. Also, the rods carried from the feeding-in port can be fed to the feeding-out port while sequentially passing through the upper compartment and the lower compartment.
The above-described apparatus, however,has the following disadvantage. Since the rods which are built-up on the movable and stationary conveyors, respectively, are formed in circular-arc shapes, sector-shaped gaps are respectively formed in the feeding direction. Accordingly, for example, when the rods are linearly press-fed from the leading edge of the movable conveyor in the feeding direction to the guide plate while abutting each other, the sector-shaped gaps between the rods are compressed and the rods are crushed in the feeding direction, and simultaneously, are pushed while abutting each other over the whole axial length thereof. Thus, the rods are liable to axially slip toward the low pressure sides in which the sector-shaped gaps are larger. This brings about not only disorder of the rods, but also the obstruction of the group of rods from being linearly press-fed at high efficiency.
To solve the above problem, there has been proposed a technique of erecting a disorder preventing plate opposite to the axial end surfaces of the rods over the distance from the leading edge of the movable conveyor in the feeding direction to the guide plate. However, this technique is disadvantageous in that the end surfaces of the rods contact the disorder preventing plate, so that the rods are horizontally turned by friction, thereby causing irregularity in the attitudes of such rods.